The Redskins Blog

Remembering Sean Taylor On 30th B-Day

Sean Taylor was one of the fastest rising stars in the NFL during his four-year career with the Burgundy and Gold, as the safety garnished a reputation as being one the hardest hitting safeties in the league.

His 2007 season may have been the best year for Taylor, before his life was tragically cut short. The former University of Miami Hurricane had five interceptions in just nine games, four of which came during Weeks 5 through 7.

To this day it is still hard to swallow the loss of No. 21 on and off the field. Teammates like Santana Moss and Clinton Portis were some of Taylor’s closest friends. To this day, Moss continues to honor Taylor with each touchdown catch he makes.

Today would have been Taylor’s 30th birthday and while we wish that Taylor was still gracing the confines of FedExField and teaming with record-setting quarterback Robert Griffin III and running back Alfred Morris, we want to look back on the time that Taylor was in the DMV. Read more »

Redskins Historian: Sean Taylor’s Passing

By Mike Richman
The Redskins Historian

(Click here for more about the passing of Sean Taylor)

On Nov. 27, 2007, Redskin superstar safety Sean Taylor died a day after being shot in a break-in at his home in Miami.

The passing of one of the NFL’s best players marked the biggest D.C. sports tragedy since Maryland basketball star Len Bias died of cocaine intoxication in 1986 and the biggest Redskin tragedy since Vince Lombardi’s death in 1970.

Read more »

Sean Taylor Tributes In Tweets, Websites

Sean Taylor died five years ago to this day, but his memory lives on through his former teammates, coaches, friends, family and fans.

Accordingly, there’s several awesome Taylor tributes that have popped up today:

- On the Redskins Twitter page, we’re encouraging fans to tweet us their favorite Sean Taylor photos.

- ESPN 980 has also done a wonderful Taylor tribute page in which you can find some great Taylor quotes, photos and highlights from his best moments with the Redskins.

Speaking of Twitter, several Redskins players got on their own accounts today to show their respects to Taylor, including:

Quarterback Robert Griffin III:

Never got the chance to meet Sean Taylor, but his legacy is embedded in our franchise. Because of that…We play with him every game—
Robert Griffin III (@RGIII) November 27, 2012

Read more »

ESPN: Sean Taylor, Five Years Later

ESPN today released a wonderful piece looking back at the life and death of Sean Taylor, which you can see above.

Included in the piece are Redskins owner Daniel M. Snyder, as well as former teammates Santana Moss, Chris Cooley, Clinton Portis and more.

The memories of Taylor’s impact on the Redskins and the NFL are great, but seeing Moss choked up five years after Taylor’s tragic death is something that sets this specific piece apart.

Redskins Nation: Tribute To Sean Taylor

It’s so hard to believe that just five years ago was one of the most tragic days in Washington Redskins history.

In the early morning of Nov. 27, 2007, the worst of fears were confirmed when Sean Taylor — one of the top, young talents in the National Football League — died from complications stemming from gunshot wounds suffered at the hands of an armed intruder at his Miami home just a day before. He was 24 years old.

The entire Redskins organization was left in shambles emotionally, but the truly tragic part about Taylor’s death was that he was survived by an 18-month-old daughter and his high-school sweetheart.

At the time of his death, Taylor had developed into one of the most feared safeties in the NFL. After being drafted fifth overall by the Redskins in the 2004 NFL Draft, the Miami product was named a first alternate to the Pro Bowl after a stellar rookie season. In 2006, Taylor had a team-high 129 tackles (89 solo), one interception and three forced fumbles and was voted to the Pro Bowl.

For his career, Taylor had 344 tackles (245 solo), 12 interceptions, 41 passes defended and four forced fumbles. He was named to the 2007 Pro Bowl posthumously, as well as inducted into the Redskins Ring of Fame.

Here’s a touching video tribute to Taylor produced by “Redskins Nation,” which airs Monday through Friday (at 5:30 p.m. and 11:30 p.m.) and Saturdays (7:30 a.m.):

Read more »

EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: ‘Skins Take The Field

Several awesome moments have unraveled at today’s Redskins 80th Anniversary Homecoming festivities, but none of which has been better so far than Pedro “Pete” Taylor, Sean Taylor’s father, joining the Redskins defensive backs and safeties in their pre-game ritual prior to taking the field.

Sean Taylor is one of the “10 For 80″ honorees being celebrated today as one of the 80 Greatest Redskins of All-Time.

Also included in the video above are two cool exchanges — one between tight end Chris Cooley and “10 For 80″ honoree LaVar Arrington, and another between Redskins head coach Mike Shanahan and “10 For 80″ honoree Clinton Portis.

Also included is linebacker London Fletcher’s pre-game speech.

Enjoy.

10 For 80: Sean Taylor

(AP photo)

Note: The Redskins Blog will be profiling several former players, coaches and team officials eligible to be voted by you, the fans, in this year’s Redskins 80th Anniversary celebration. To vote for Sean Taylor or your 10 other all-timers to join the already-chosen list of the 70 Greatest Redskins, go to http://www.redskins80th.com/

As a beginning note, I couldn’t possibly begin to try to put the life and career of Sean Taylor into a few paragraphs.

So I turn to the writing of former Redskins.com writer Gary Fitzgerald, who wrote this piece shortly after Taylor died in November 2007 after suffering a fatal gunshot wound in his Miami home:

Read more »

Meriweather Intrigued By Redskins History

The 2011 season was a disappointing campaign for both the Redskins starting safeties and Brandon Meriweather.

The Redskins thought they had a pair of dynamic playmakers in LaRon Landry and Oshiomogho Atogwe, but poor health and performance led to their departure.  Coming off of back-to-back Pro Bowl seasons in New England, Meriweather was cut on the eve of the regular season, before landing in Chicago.

The 2012 season is tailor-made for dual redemption.

Despite adding an army of safeties this offseason, Meriweather has an opportunity to compete for either starting safety position.  It appealed to Brandon that teammate, mentor and close friend Sean Taylor starred for the Redskins.  It appealed to him because he could showcase his talents (Live) on a young defense.

And it turns out that the vibrant, living history of the Redskins was the icing on top. Read more »

NFL.com-Inspired Discussion Of 2007 Draft

AP Image

In honor of the upcoming fifth anniversary of the 2007 NFL Draft, the fine folks at NFL.com redrafted the first round for what five years of hindsight can offer.

Although the Redskins no longer have any original draft picks still on the roster, NFL analyst Elliott Harrison makes the argument that the team nailed the first pick with LaRon Landry:

6. Washington Redskins

Actual pick: LaRon Landry

Do-over pick: Same

He might be gone now (to the Jets), but Landry was a solid player for the Redskins. Sadly, like Gaines Adams, fellow Redskins safety Sean Taylor died way too young. Had Taylor and Landry been able to play together for several years, this team could’ve imposed its will on divisional foes that feature solid quarterbacks in Eli Manning, Michael Vick and Tony Romo. To say the least, it would’ve been tougher sledding with Taylor and Landry lurking in the secondary.

The thinking was correct, the player was correct, and for three plus years it worked out very well.  But after the last two seasons ending in Achilles injuries, he will look to restart with the Jets, and the Redskins will look to find a healthy option at strong safety.

Here’s the remainder of the Redskins’s 2007 Draft class, and a look at other options still on the board when the Redskins made their picks: Read more »

Sean Taylor Tribute As A ‘Draw Something’

Last Friday, I passed along a pretty awesome rendition of Sonny Jurgensen, as drawn by fan Sean Anderson in a game of ‘Draw Something.’  The picture was then featured in a gallery on SI.com, leading to a call for any and all Redskins renderings.

It isn’t too late to enter your own ideas, but you would be hard-pressed to top the best so far, from lifelong Redskins fan Stephen Ratpojanakul (@sratpo), age 28.

The origin of the picture came from an intra-family game of ‘Draw Something’ with Stephen’s twin brother, Michael.  The given word “Taylor” was personified as a rendition of Washington’s magnificent No. 21 spearing a Cowboys quarterback: Read more »